Mark of Athena
by darkhairandgreeneyes
Summary: This one's different to the others I swear!  Most of it will be what I think happens at the END, but there will be the Percabeth reunion and Jason/Piper/Reyna angst first, then BIG things are going to happen. You won't regret reading it - good grammar too
1. Annabeth

**A/N: These are some ideas that I think could happen - or something along the lines of them - throughout the book (with some evidence from the books to back me up) it will get very interesting so keep tuned ;)**

**Anyways, I'll let you guys get on with reading it now, hope you enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus, just the ideas and writing of the story.**

**ANNABETH ****I**

"This is your captain speaking. We have begun our descent to San Francisco where the weather is currently 24 degrees Celsius and sunny with a mild breeze. We're going to touch down in approximately 40 seconds, so hold on tight guys because I haven't had that much practise landing this thing. Thank you for flying with Argo Airlines," Annabeth could hear Leo laugh then say to Jason how he had always wanted to do the whole "this is your captain speaking thing" before he remembered to switch the speaker off. Piper, who was sitting on her bed, shook her head and laughed at Leo's silliness before continuing to pack some supplies and a spare pair of clothes into a small bag in case they planned to stay at the camp for a while. Annabeth had already sorted her things out so she simply sat on her bed adjacent to Piper's and remembered other times – good and bad – in San Francisco while she waited for the ship to land.

Annabeth gripped the rail of her bed as the Argo II rocked and came to a standstill. They had finally arrived at Camp Jupiter after Leo and Jason had taken turns flying through the night and half the day from New York to San Francisco. Leo emerged first from the captains' cabin grinning like he was on a double dose of happy pills (after all, he hadn't crashed the ship on its maiden voyage), followed by Jason who looked determined but nervous – he was returning to his home after all. Annabeth had to say she felt the same way as Jason. It had been eight long months since she had seen Percy… Would he have changed? Would he still love her? Did he even remember who she was? Annabeth shook her head as if to shake the thoughts from her mind and frowned, it was no good to think that way; of course Percy would know who she was – Jason's memory had come back soon enough, so Percy's would have too. It had to.

Jason cleared his throat interrupting her train of thought. "I suppose I'd better go out there then," he said glancing anxiously towards the ladder that led to the top deck. Piper got up from her bunk next to Annabeth and joined Jason at his side, "you'll be fine," she said and kissed him on the cheek, "they _are_ your friends and they'll be happy to see you back, there's nothing for you to worry about." She gave him a smile full of love and contentment that he couldn't help but return. "You're right, Piper," he said slipping his hand into hers. Leo laughed at them and mimed being sick. Piper turned to him and stuck her tongue out before she and Jason laughed with him.

Annabeth was too tense to join in with their laughter and didn't want her friends to see her looking upset so she mumbled, "excuse me," before moving swiftly to the bathroom. She was supposed to be the strong confident one, the one who had been at camp for ten years and knew what to do in these kinds of situations. But she didn't feel that way at all, she felt lost and confused. Percy was only separated from her by a wall of wood… So why was she dreading going out there? Annabeth paced the short distance from the door to the other side of the room a few times before sighing and sitting on the edge of the gold rimmed bath and playing with her beaded necklace. She had to hand it to the Hephaestus cabin; they had done a brilliant job of making the boat. They'd even included a large round mirror opposite the bath where she sat - although why seven demigods going on a quest to save the world would really care about their appearances she didn't know. Regardless of this sudden thought, she stared at herself in the mirror and realised how tired she was: she was quite pale and had purple circles under her eyes due to lack of sleep from all the thoughts and bad dreams running through her head at night. She tried to make herself a bit more presentable before leaving the bathroom so she washed and dried her face, retied her hair in a pony tail and straightened her orange Camp Half-Blood t shirt.

Leo and Jason had already gone to the top deck to address the crowd of Roman demigods waiting outside, but Piper had waited behind for Annabeth. "How are you feeling?" she asked Annabeth.

She hesitated, "Confused I guess. In my mind I know I'm going to see Percy again, but I have a bad feeling about this whole thing and I don't know why. Those dreams haven't been helping either."

"It's going to be okay, Annabeth," Piper reassured her and hugged her tightly. In the time that they had known each other, they had become quite close and Annabeth felt she could confide her thoughts and nightmares in her; Piper wasn't like most girls in the Aphrodite cabin – she didn't glam herself up or spend hours getting ready and gossiping about other people, she was really down to earth and great at listening and helping you out with your problems, and Annabeth had _a lot_ of problems she needed to sort out. Annabeth stepped back from Piper and stared into her multi-coloured eyes. It looked like Piper was going to say something else, but she hesitated and turned away, seemingly bracing herself for something she didn't want to do. She turned back to Annabeth with a slightly guilty look, but spoke very clearly, "Everything will be fine, you will go up on deck and you will see Percy out there and nothing will have changed – including his feelings for you." Annabeth felt the tension ease from her shoulders, she suddenly felt relaxed. "You're absolutely right Piper, everything will be fine." She felt silly for worrying so much – of course Percy would be the same. She smiled a little to herself; her boyfriend was out there waiting for her. They had been apart long enough and she couldn't stand to wait any longer.

"Come on, let's do this," said Annabeth with renewed vigour. Piper smiled at Annabeth and said "that's what I like to hear," before starting up the ladder to join the boys. Annabeth grabbed her things off her bed and took one last long look around the room before taking a deep breath and starting to climb.

**PLEASE REVIEW (and be nice ;) ) this is my first long story on here.**

**I really hope that in the book Riordan has more characters on the Argo II like Rachel, Grover, Thalia, Clarisse etc, but for the purpose of my story I had to keep it to just these guys.**

**Next chapter in a couple of days :)**


	2. Reyna

**A/N I don't really know why I chose to do this chapter in Reyna's POV because I definately don't think she will in the real book... but that's what happened when I was writing this :L**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns characters and setting, I own theories and writing.**

**REYNA II**

Everybody stood to attention ready to attack on Reyna's mark. She didn't know what to make of the situation she found herself in now. She had been praetor for a long time but she felt totally unprepared; she hadn't even known that there were Greek demigods until Percy showed up and told them about the Greek camp in New York. Although thinking about it now, it all added up – the reason the Mist was so strong in New York and why all Romans said they had a bad feeling about the east when they went too far. Not forgetting when she first saw Percy and Annabeth all those years ago. They didn't look like regular mortals and, after having a short conversation and a seaweed wrap with Annabeth by the pool, she found out that she was a demigod too. Reyna had always assumed that they were Roman like herself but she never saw them at Camp Jupiter when she arrived. She had always wondered what had happened to them.

Somebody nudged her from behind and she came back to the present. She turned around angrily, already wired up about the potential war that was going to break out in a few short moments and the decisions she would have to make, to see Octavian towering over her. "What do you want, Octavian?" she snapped. His mouth twisted slightly in a sneer as if he wanted to snap back at her but instead he simply said, loud enough for anyone in a 5 metre radius to hear, "Praetor, this is not a good idea. Isn't it obvious that they are here to destroy our camp? They are our enemies! We have always hated the Greeks so why should we hear them out, let alone allow them into our camp? I say we kill them immediately." Demigods close to where they stood turned to see how Reyna would respond, some looking like they agreed with Octavian. "We will give them a chance. They have a white flag of truce and Percy said we can trust them and I trust his judgement. Besides, if we have to attack we have the upper hand," she gestured to the group of armed demigods and legacies that stood behind them, prepared for the worst. She glared at Octavian with a look that told him the subject was closed. "As you wish praetor," he mumbled, bowing slightly then striding off to join a small group of Romans.

The ship was getting closer by the second and Reyna, feeling unsure what to do next, turned to make sure everyone was in correct formation, even though she knew they would be. As she turned she saw Percy approaching (finally! She had started to worry he wouldn't get there in time) from the town in deep conversation with Hazel and Frank with an animated look on his face. She guessed he was talking about something from his life before Camp Jupiter. This proved to be correct, as she heard the tail end of his conversation as he neared: "… I would have taken on Octavian any day rather than consult the Oracle back at camp." She had heard of the Oracle of Delphi but had not known it existed. Apparently it was at the Greek camp – Octavian would have a field day if he knew, she thought bitterly, glad that he had not stayed with her long enough to hear this information. Percy continued by saying, "Although now the spirit is inside my friend Rachel instead of an old mummy," he seemed to shudder slightly, "so consulting the oracle isn't so bad anymore," he grinned. Frank was looking awestruck from the story he had just heard. Reyna, slightly amused by Frank's expression, called Percy over to discuss the matter at hand.

Percy said something to his friends before jogging awkwardly in his toga towards Reyna. "Hey Reyna, how's it going?" he asked. She didn't understand how he could be so calm in such a dire situation. Either way, Reyna needed to lay down some rules because she had learnt the hard way that the Greeks don't have the same discipline and order as the Romans. "Percy. I've ordered the troops not to fire unless I give them the signal–"

"You won't need to give them any signal," Percy interrupted looking slightly agitated, "I've told you that they aren't going to attack or anything; they just want to talk," he pointed up towards the white flag, "and besides, Annabeth is on that ship so I won't let you attack no matter what."

Reyna sighed inwardly, this is what she meant about the Greeks (or Percy anyway) not having any order. She explained to Percy that they needed to have the troops on stand by in case this was an ambush, but she would give them an opportunity to speak before anything happened. She looked back up to the ship that was in the process of landing then added, "Percy, Jason is on that ship too. I'm not going to do anything hasty," she smiled very slightly. She was looking forwards to seeing Jason and hoped they could have a long conversation after all this was through. "We will hear them out then come to a decision on what to do. As praetor and representative of Camp Jupiter, you must stay by my side throughout and not interact with those on the ship until that decision is made. Do you understand?" Percy did not seem to like this idea but nodded anyway. Reyna was glad, she did not always like laying down the law or sounding like someone's mother, but this was a very important matter and it had to be handled correctly.

A silence befell the Romans, as they waited for someone to emerge from the warship that was now sitting in front of them in the field of Mars. Reyna admired the vessel, from the large white sails to the golden dragon mast head; she could tell that it would be brilliant in battle. After a few moments, Jason appeared on deck for everyone to see. She could hear people whispering, some people cheered for Jason's return and Percy mumbled "so that's Jason then." Reyna's heart lurched like the feeling she got when Skippy, her pegasus, swerved unexpectedly. She stared into his sky blue eyes which ranged over the whole camp before they fell on her. He also seemed to take in Percy beside her as if he was putting the image of him from his head with reality and also realising that he was no longer praetor of the camp. Reyna wondered how he would feel about that.

Another boy joined Jason from below the deck. He had dark curly hair and a grin plastered to his elfin face as he stood beside Jason and took in the crowd of people, some with arrows aimed at them, although for some reason this made him smile wider. Reyna had to admire his guts. She heard someone gasp behind her and twisted round to see that Hazel was staring transfixed at the boy.

Reyna didn't stop to think why and lifted her hand for silence, motioning for Jason to start speaking. Jason began explaining the situation, his expression unreadable, while everybody listened attentively. Just as he was finishing his monologue – with a few interjections from the other boy when he forgot certain details – a girl that was not Annabeth materialised next to Jason. She gave him an encouraging smile and stood very close to him. Reyna felt a sinking feeling deep inside her – even from about 20 feet away she could see that the girl with Jason was beautiful without even trying. She had chocolate brown hair in braids, a smooth tancomplexion and eyes a colour Reyna could not describe.

Reyna felt like something inside her had broken. She had spent over eight months worrying about Jason and managing the camp on her own, hoping he was alright and that nothing had happened to him, only to find that he was perfectly fine with another girl. From what Percy had told her, she understood that Jason had lost his memory too, but Percy had remembered Annabeth so why hadn't Jason remembered her? Or maybe he had remembered her but just didn't care? _No _she wiped that thought from her mind as quickly as it had entered _Jason isn't like that_… _surely he and the girl are just friends_, but deep down she didn't believe that, she could see from their body language how it was.

At that moment, a girl with blonde, curly hair approached the three demigods at the ships rails: Annabeth. Reyna had a flashback to a time four years ago on Circe's Island. It struck Reyna how much Annabeth looked the same as she had at the spa: her hair tied up in a messy pony tail, the dagger at her side and the orange t shirt like the one Percy had turned up in, except that she was taller now. She noticed that Jason and the others were also wearing orange t shirts. The words "Camp Half Blood" were emblazoned on the front – the name of the Greek camp.

Jason acknowledged Annabeth's appearance with a curt nod before turning back to the demigods and finishing their story up until now. He seemed to be watching for Percy's reaction, but Percy was slightly distracted trying to keeping his toga up which was slipping over his shoulder and had not yet noticed that Annabeth was there. Annabeth had by now approached the rail and seemed to be scanning the demigods at the back of the camp with her stormy grey eyes – looking for Percy, Reyna guessed.

"Annabeth!" she heard someone shout. She looked back down from the ship and the startled expressions on the Greek demigod's faces to see that, while she had been looking at Annabeth, Percy had also seen her and stumbled a few feet towards the ship towards his girlfriend. He was too far away for Reyna to stop him and she was disappointed that Percy had disobeyed the rules she had so clearly set out and was about to call him to order, when she saw the look on Annabeth's face and that stopped her. The way Annabeth's eyes lit up and the huge smile of relief that spread across her face at seeing Percy. Annabeth called his name back in a voice full of emotion and turned towards the stairs that would lead her to her boyfriend, but a blinding flash of light stopped them in their tracks.

Everybody froze. Reyna clenched her fists, ready to give a signal if something bad was happening – this day just keeps getting better and better she thought. A tall woman seemed to appear from the sky itself. She was wearing gold armour and a goat skin cape, standing to the right of the warship. This was the second time Juno had come to camp in a month; Reyna knew important events were turning for Camp Jupiter. Some people gasped (having not seen her the first time) and all the Roman's knelt down immediately. Reyna noticed that Percy seemed reluctant, but after a few seconds he knelt down with everybody else.

"You!" someone shouted. Reyna's head whipped up to see who would dare speak to a god that way and saw that Annabeth was staring daggers at Juno. People started whispering, but Reyna held her hand up for silence and waited to see how this would play out. She would, of course, intervene if Annabeth went too far. "This is all your fault, Hera! I can't _believe_ you took Percy away for eight months! And all the cryptic dreams about finding boys with missing shoes… You did it just to spite me didn't you?" Reyna heard several sharp intakes of breath. Annabeth had accused the goddess with such venom that she was surprised that Juno remained standing serenely instead of blasting her out of the boat. A memory of Percy standing up to Mars during the war games flickered suddenly into her mind and she had to wonder if all Greeks were so rude and careless towards the gods. She sincerely hoped not.

"Annabeth Chase," Juno chided, "I would have thought that, being a daughter of Athena, you of all people would have understood why I had to do this. Especially with everything that has been happening lately," she said ambiguously giving Annabeth a pointed look. Annabeth did not seem at all happy about this but she folded her arms across her chest, obscuring the writing on her t shirt, and dropped the subject.

Juno faced those on the field of Mars. "Romans, you may rise. I shall keep this short and simple. As many of you may have realised, something beyond all your wildest dreams is coming to pass: the Prophecy of Seven. The giants are waking and plan to destroy the gods. This cannot happen or the world will be in turmoil. In order to defeat them, the Greeks and Romans _must_ work together alongside the gods. If you do not accept the Greeks then all hope is lost. Praetors, you must make your decision now." Juno looked specifically at Reyna for it was obvious what Percy's decision would be. Reyna did not stop to think and said, "We shall accept the Greek demigods and fight together," for she had known in her heart from the beginning that it was the only way.

"Good choice, daughter of Bellona." She turned and addressed everyone now, "Romans, I present to you Jason Grace son of Jupiter, Annabeth Chase daughter of Minerva, Piper McLean daughter of Venus and Leo Valdez son of Vulcan. Make them welcome." Juno smiled then vanished into thin air.

There was a moments silence before Annabeth seemed to realise that Juno had really gone. Reyna saw her run towards the stairs followed by the other three demigods on the ship. She emerged onto the field where Percy stood waiting and jumped into his arms. He lifted her off her feet and they kissed passionately in front of everyone, to the sound of a few wolf whistles. "Nice toga, seaweed brain," she heard Annabeth whisper to Percy. He smiled and held her close as if he never wanted to let go. "I've missed you, wise girl," he replied.

Reyna felt a pang of longing as she turned to see Jason walking towards her with the girl, Piper, by his side. She scolded herself _I have a camp to run, this is not the time to think about Jason and his love affairs. _They came up to Reyna and stood in front of her. Percy and Annabeth, who were holding hands, joined them as well as Leo. "It's nice to see you back, Jason. Piper, Leo and Annabeth you are very welcome at Camp Jupiter and I hope you enjoy your stay here. You can lodge in the 5th Cohort, and I'm sure Percy and Jason can show you around."

"Thank you, Reyna." Jason bowed his head to his praetor and she turned and walked away. The demigods parted before her and the ones that were armed lowered their weapons – there would be no battle today. She glanced over her shoulder and saw a crowd of people surrounding Jason and the new comers, asking for more detail about their adventure. Percy was still holding Annabeth tightly. Reyna did not yet know what to make of the Greeks, but she supposed she would soon find out since they were going to be working together to save the world.

**REVIEW! ****what did you think guys? No flames please**

**And sorry to those who are "Jayna/Jeyna" and not "Jasper" but this is my personal opinion for what will happen, for these reasons: 1) Reyna never explicitly said that she was actaully Jason's girlfriend or that they ever had a thing going on, 2) Jason did not remember Reyna like Percy remembered Annabeth and 3)**** Jason and Piper have been together for another 8 months since his memory came back so they would have had a lot of time together to develop their feelings. **

**BUT I am not Rick Riordan, I do not know what will happen so please don't leave reviews saying it should have been Jason with Reyna.**

**Also, anybody like the subtle reference that Reyna might end up liking Leo? I think they would be awesome together ;)**


	3. Author's Note  Sorry!

**A/N Really sorry about this, guys, but it's essential you read this to understand what will happen in the next chapter.**

**As I kind of said in my summary I'm not going to be doing the middle – just the beginning and the end – (for various reasons, including that I should really be studying instead) so I'll give you some of my ideas as to what could happen before the next chapter starts.**

**So, all those who came to Camp Jupiter on the Argo II will stay there for a couple of weeks, get to know everyone and work out a strategy. There might be a war game – Greeks vs. Romans (Percy would be on the Greeks' side obviously). Octavian will do something evil – maybe try and kill someone else in the war game or figure out that Ella has memorised the prophecies or something else..? (Maybe if Rachel was on the ship there would be tension between them too) And that will leave everyone feeling uneasy.**

**Then Hazel, Frank and Ella will go back with the Greeks and Jason (not forgetting Tyson and Mrs. O Leary) to Camp Half Blood, where they will stay for a couple more weeks preparing for the quest – the Romans will be trained Greek style as well to make sure they are extra ready to fight monsters and stuff :)**

**I'm pretty sure Hazel, Frank, Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Leo and Jason are the seven who will go to Rome so they will travel there on the Argo II, taking Ella with them. They will encounter monsters on the way and might have to make stops on land for some time – England because it's awesome ;) then maybe France and Spain because Piper and Leo can speak the languages respectively. And then they will arrive in Rome and the real quest to find the Doors of Death will begin (as Thanatos told Frank in Alaska).**

**So there you have it. You are now updated on how my story will go. The next chapter will be up in a couple of days and they will have arrived in Rome :D**

**And thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really do appreciate every one of them.**


	4. Percy

****A/N Most of the speech in Percy's dream has been lifted out of the Battle of the Labyrinth - in case anyone recognises it ;) ********And they have arrived in Rome now. Other than that, I don't have much to say apart from thanks for all the faves and reviews and enjoy!****

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJatO. **

**PERCY**

Percy watched Annabeth who was staring into the distance. There was a little crease between her eyebrows, which Percy recognised as her "thinking face". He wondered what she was thinking about, but didn't want to interrupt and ask. Probably battle strategies or what would be best for them to do in the morning – Annabeth had come up with the main ideas and plans for their quest to find the Doors of Death after Percy, Hazel and Frank had explained to the rest of them that Thanatos had said to start their search in Rome.

She came out of her reverie and turned to face Percy, "You look like you're about to drop Percy. Go and get some rest, I'll be fine on my own," Annabeth smiled at him. She looked so beautiful in the moonlight, against a backdrop of stars and ancient Roman ruins. Percy thought about when they had first arrived in Rome and how fascinated and excited Annabeth had been with the architecture, telling the others all these facts about the buildings. The memory made him smile. "Percy?" Her face swam back into his vision –it had been a long day and he really was tired. "Ok I'll go sleep," he said, "who shall I wake up to join you?" he asked. Seeing as there were eight of them (including Ella) it was a better idea for them to have two people guarding the tent while the others slept instead of just one.

"Oh, you don't have to do that. Let everybody rest, I'm not tired at all and if anything happens I can easily wake you guys up," Annabeth made a persuasive argument. He turned to her and looked into her silvery moonlit eyes, "are you really sure?" he asked sincerely; he didn't want to leave her on her own.

"I am, seaweed brain," she gave him a playful shove, which almost knocked him over in his worn-out state, then pulled him back upright and hugged him tight as if she never wanted to let go. She gazed into his green eyes and he found himself looking back into her eyes once again. He was startled to see that they were moist with tears threatening to spill over onto her smooth cheeks, "what's wrong, Annabeth?" he asked.

"Nothing," she replied quickly, wiping her eyes with her hands, "you know I love you, don't you, Percy? And I would never do anything to hurt you,"

Percy was confused as to where this sudden outburst came from, "of course I know that, Annabeth, and you know that it's exactly the same for me. I promise nothing will happen to you on this quest as long as I'm with you." For some reason this made Annabeth look sadder, so Percy kissed her forehead then held her close and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. After a while, he stopped and just held her and that is how they stayed, for the next half an hour, until Percy fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Percy dreamt that he was in a room with mosaic patterns on the wall and a fountain in the middle. He recognised this room, and it took a few moments for his mind to place that he was back in the Labyrinth. He remained conscious that this was only a dream and was relieved that he was not really back in that wretched place. He saw Tyson, Grover, Annabeth and himself and realised that he was watching a memory. There were two doors at the far end of the room, and in front of them was Janus, the god of doorways, beginnings, endings and choices. He was talking to Annabeth: his right face smiled and said "you're in charge now, my dear. All the decisions are on your shoulders. That's what you wanted, isn't it?" Annabeth couldn't respond; she was shocked, "We know you, Annabeth," continued the left face. "We know what you wrestle with every day. We know your indecision. You will have to make a choice sooner or later. And the choice may kill you." Annabeth looked horrified and Percy couldn't blame her. He remembered that fateful night on Mount Olympus with Luke and the decisions they had to make to save the world from the reign of Kronos. Percy shivered in his dream.<p>

Hera had banished Janus and was talking to them about their quest. She faced Annabeth, "One last thing, Annabeth," she said, "I have postponed your day of choice, but I have not prevented it. Soon, as Janus said, you _will _have to make a decision. Very soon." She stared directly at Percy while she said this last part, as if she knew he was there watching and he shivered again. She turned into smoke and disappeared. The whole room seemed to be filling up with smoke, burning his throat. He woke up.

* * *

><p>The first thing Percy was conscious of was the cold hard ground beneath his back. He lay there with his eyes still closed, confused and trying to remember what had happened before he fell asleep. He had been on guard duty with Annabeth outside the tents.<p>

He sat up so he could apologise to Annabeth for falling asleep; even though she had told him that he should get some rest, he felt kind of bad for letting her guard all of them on her own. Only she wasn't sitting next to him anymore. Percy began to panic slightly, but he got up to look around the tent – it was no use jumping to the worst conclusion – and took a deep calming breath. He coughed and saw that the air was dark and smoky; the smoke from his dream had been real. His dream! A line of a prophecy Ella had once recited flashed into his mind: _the child of wisdom walks alone, the mark of Athena burns through Rome._ His palms started to sweat. Annabeth was in danger.

He went further out from the tents and shouted Annabeth's name several times. He hadn't been asleep that long had he? _Surely she must be close by_, he thought, but there was no reply. His heart raced as he ran back to the others to wake them up.

Piper's head emerged from the girl's tent when Percy was about twenty feet away. She must have heard him shouting for Annabeth. "What's happened Percy?" She asked anxiously.

"Annabeth's gone!" he called back frantically, "we've got to go find her." Piper's expression of worry deepened but she nodded swiftly and went back into the tent to wake Hazel and Ella. Percy made it to the boy's tent and woke Frank, Jason and Leo. They all got up immediately, grabbed their bags and raced off into the night to find Annabeth.

**Dun dun dun! What do you think guys? Please review!**


	5. Percy II

**A/N So this is where the Hurt/Comfort begins to really set in... But don't lose faith, it's all part of the master plan :)**

**Oh and have you guys heard that Riordan has finished his first draft of Mark of Athena? So excited! but still like 7 months to go...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJatO.**

**PERCY**

They seven of them split up so they could cover more ground and find Annabeth quicker. Percy was with Ella who soared in the air, searching from above. After about five minutes of rushing around and calling Annabeth's name, Ella returned to Percy's side and started muttering, "Ella smells monsters, monsters smell bad. Monster's Inc released in 2001. September 2001: Plane crashed into twin towers in New York. Percy is from New York." She quickly sped off again, leaving Percy dazed from the information overload. He was now wary of potential monster attacks but he moved on and kept searching, and that is when he heard the screams.

He ran passed fallen columns and blazes until he turned a corner where the sulphurous smell of monster dust was drifting in the breeze. Percy's heart jumped out of his chest when he saw the figure lying on the ground several feet away. "Annabeth!" he yelled and hurried to where she lay.

Percy stopped short when he saw the bloody dagger at his feet; he swayed and felt sick. Annabeth had her hand pressed to a wound in her side attempting to staunch the flow, but a lot of blood was still rapidly seeping through her t shirt and oozing through her fingers. Her face was deathly pale and her eyes were squeezed shut. She was shivering and moaning with pain. This jolted Percy's mind and he knelt beside her, immediately emptying supplies of ambrosia and nectar from his bag onto the dusty ground. "It's ok, Annabeth, I'm here," he choked out. Her eyes fluttered open as he held her chin tenderly and trickled nectar into her mouth. He gently prised her hand from her side, moved her t shirt aside and dripped nectar into the wound as well. From what Percy could see, it ran very deep.

The stream of blood slowed a little, but it did not stop. He started cleaning out the wound and bandaging her up as best as he could without hurting her, which was hard because she looked extremely pained and let out a small scream every time he touched her skin – even after the nectar. He thought about all the other times Annabeth had been hurt and he felt that this was by far the worst; blood was already starting to soak through the bandage Percy had just tied up. His heart palpitated nervously but he murmured, "There we go, all done" in a soothing tone. Annabeth took a deep shuddering breath and whispered Percy's name.

"You don't have to speak Annabeth, just rest and focus on getting better." Annabeth shook her head almost imperceptibly and spoke anyway, "I'm so sorry, Percy, this is all my fault," she croaked. Tears were streaming down her face.

Percy felt his throat closing up and his eyes burning, but he had to keep it together for Annabeth. "No," he said fiercely, "It's mine. I promised nothing would happen to you and then hardly an hour later and you're–" his voice cracked and he could not continue, so he just gestured to her torso. He couldn't believe that he had fallen asleep and let Annabeth get hurt like this. He wanted to scream and shout and smash things into oblivion, but now was not the time, so he swallowed down his guilt and picked up the canteen of nectar and gave her a few more drops. Her tense shoulders seemed to relax a bit so he guessed the pain had lessened, to some extent, thanks to the healing drink of the gods.

He tucked a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Percy, you don't understand," she persisted, "I wanted you to fall asleep, so I could go and… sort something out. I had a dream–" she began. Percy remembered his own dream. It all made sense now; Hera _had_ been talking directly to Percy, warning him that Annabeth would have to make a decision about something "very soon". "What did you choose, Annabeth?" Percy interrupted.

"I chose to keep you alive," she said between sobs, "they told me if I didn't cooperate and give them the details of our quest that they would destroy the thing that matters most to me: you. I didn't tell them anything, but I couldn't let them find you so I went to meet them and fought them on my own. I'm sorry for lying to you and making like everything was okay," she was still sobbing, "do you forgive me?"

Percy felt a deep ache in his chest, "Of course I forgive you, Annabeth. But I would rather go up alone against a whole army of giants and Gaia herself than let anything happen to you; I thought you would have understood that rather than try and face them on your own."

"You're still not getting it, Seaweed Brain," she sighed like she did when she had to explain things to Percy that were really obvious to her. Percy remembered how he would always tease her light heartedly for being a know-it-all, but he was not teasing her now. "The fate of the world lies with you," she continued, "I couldn't let them injure or kill you, not just for my sake but for everyone else's. You will save the world and it will be a better place."

"How can it be a better place if you're not there with me!" he cried. He thought about the future he had dreamed up for him and Annabeth that would never happen: how beautiful Annabeth would look coming down the aisle while he waited at the altar; the curly haired baby splashing with them in the ocean; growing old together and never having to worry about going on quests anymore. It had all been cruelly snatched away from him.

His eyesight went fuzzy and tears spilled from his eyes as the reality of it all hit him. Annabeth lifted a tired hand and brushed his tears away leaving a smear of blood on his face. He took her hand and held it tenderly; it was cold despite the hot Mediterranean night. "I can see Zoë," Annabeth whispered, her eyes slightly glazed. Percy hoped she meant the constellation and not Zoë's spirit – he wouldn't be able to bear it if she left him now. He looked up to the sky and saw the constellation of the huntress on the horizon among the other stars.

He turned back towards Annabeth. She had been watching him, "I love you so much, Perseus Jackson," she spoke softly, "You are so brave and strong, I know you will make me proud," she smiled weakly. "I love you too, Annabeth Chase, more than anything I have ever known." More tears streaked through the grime on his face as he bent forwards and kissed her lightly on the lips. He felt the slightest pressure on his hand as she squeezed it. Her hand slowly loosened its hold of his and her grey eyes closed for the last time.

She was gone. Percy had never felt more alone in his life. All the emotions he had kept bottled up for Annabeth's sake poured out. He heard Grover's sad voice in his head _"I'm so sorry, Percy. Stay strong"_ but Percy wanted to be alone so he broke the link. He screamed curses at the gods for letting this happen and broke down sobbing, finally resting his head next to hers and holding her cold dead hand.

* * *

><p><strong>Of everything I fear the most,<strong>

**And now I'm begging you don't let go, **

**And I'm alone and I'm ashamed,**

**Hold me in your arms,**

**And now I'm sorry for what I've done.**

**And after what's said and done,**

**You pick me up no matter where I fall,**

**Hold in me in your arms,**

**Forgive me when I'm wrong.**

**And I'm alone and I'm ashamed,**

**Hold me in your arms,**

**And now I'm sorry for what I've done.**

**_What I've Done - Until June _(it's a beautiful song - go listen to it on YouTube)**

**:( Poor Percy, I felt quite sad writing this, but I do think something bad is going to happen to Annabeth (maybe not as extreme as this though...)**

**Don't worry, all hope is not lost for Annabeth! But you'll have to wait a couple of days for the next chapters to find out what I mean :D hehe.**

**Please REVIEW and tell me what you thought.**


	6. Annabeth II

**Disclaimer: You know the drill.**

**ANNABETH**

Annabeth stepped into a large neatly furnished hotel lobby. She looked around; there were others taking up every seat in the room and standing around – it was very crowded. She was confused, hadn't she just been somewhere else? Annabeth shivered, it was cold in the air conditioned room and she was only wearing shorts and a t shirt. This puzzled her even more because she had been sure she had been outside somewhere hot.

There was a man in an Italian suit at the main desk looking through some scrolls and checking things off what seemed to be a very long list. She thought this a bit odd – everything was done on computers these days – but she approached him anyway; she needed some answers. "Excuse me," she began when she reached the desk, "could you please tell me where I am?" He glanced up from his scrolls and did a double take.

"I know you," he paused. "Yes, you came here a while back with two other kids to see my boss. Demigods," he sniffed and muttered, "think they can go anywhere." Annabeth jolted in surprise. She peered at him closer then saw the name tag pinned to his suit jacket. She felt faint, "no," she whispered mostly to herself, "that can't be right."

"Ah, so you're here for real this time," the man said in his strange accent. He looked back at the bottom of his list, "Annabeth Chase?" he asked. She nodded back, feeling a strong sense of foreboding. "Do you have payment?" She nodded again, too lost for words, and pulled a golden drachma out of her pocket. She placed it before him on the counter. He picked it up and inspected it for a moment, "excellent," he smiled greedily, "you can come with me now and the ship will be full." He strode out from behind his desk towards the lift at the far end of the lobby. Annabeth followed in a daze, she could not believe this was really happening, but it was all coming back to her now.

She thought of Percy, remembering the tears streaming down his blood streaked faced – the tears that she had caused and the blood that was hers. She remembered when she had thought he was dead after the Mount St. Helens incident and knew how he would feel. This saddened her deeply, but she knew he would be strong and brave just like she had told him he was.

Now it was her turn to be brave. _I will find a way out of this_ she told herself determinedly as the lift descended into the Underworld.

**Sorry it's pretty short, but hey, it's to the point.**

**Now it's gonna get exciting BUT I'm not going to update until I get at least 10 new reviews (it doesn't matter if you've already reviewed for other chapters - you can review more than once!) seeing as I have over 10 people following this story it's only fair :P**

_**Some questions to help you review:**_

**Favourite part so far? Do you like my writing style/vocab/grammar? What do you think Annabeth/Percy is going to do next? How did the last chapter make you feel? When do you think Annabeth's birthday is (I've always wondered this. I think it would probably be in February or maybe September/October but definitely not in summer... idk why :L)**

**So hit that review button and in the next chapter you'll see it from Frank's POV when the rest of them find Percy and Annabeth :)**


	7. Frank

**So .. trying to get 10 new reviews didn't really work, but I did get 5 so that's good enough for me for now (it was a pretty short chapter anyways...)**

**Thank you to everyone who did review :D**

**And a special shout out to:**

**walco - for consistently reviewing my chapters :)**

**MaydayParade8123 - ****you are awesome! Thanks for all the reviews and messages in my inbox and the interesting conversations :D Guys ****go and check out her stories!**

**So now on with the story. As you remember, Annabeth is dead ( sorry :( ) and now the others are going to find out. **

**Enjoy!**

**FRANK**

"Annabeth?" Frank called out for about the hundredth time, he felt that he and Hazel had been searching for ages to no avail. He hoped that someone had found her or would find her soon because, even though he had only known her for a couple of months, he had come to consider her as a close friend. He could see that all the stories that Percy had told him and Hazel about how amazing Annabeth was were definitely true and when Percy and Annabeth were together they just exuded happiness as if all the troubles of the impending war were nothing to worry too much about. Also, Annabeth was the brains of this quest: she always knew what to do next and without her they would be lost.

Hazel gazed at him with those gorgeous golden eyes of hers, "Don't worry, Frank, we'll find her soon," she smiled reassuringly at him and rubbed his arm. He smiled back and held her hand. He was glad Hazel was still with him, he wouldn't have known what to do if it had been her that had disappeared.

They continued searching for a few more minutes when Ella perched down next to them. She told them that Percy had heard screaming and run off towards where the sound was coming from. "We need to find the others, now!" Hazel urged.

"Yes," Ella agreed, "Ella found them then came to look for you, they are not too far." She flew off into the lightening night sky and Frank and Hazel followed quickly.

The couple following Ella found Jason, Leo and Piper sat on some crumbling stone steps. Well Piper and Jason were sat on the steps talking anxiously to each other while Leo was pacing up and down tapping a small hammer to his leg impatiently. Frank wondered off task what it would be like to have ADHD. He shook his head at the stupid thought and focused on what was happening. "Guys!" he called out. They all turned towards him and Hazel then got up to meet them in the middle of the street. But a sound travelling through the night made them freeze where they stood. It was the sound of pained screaming and cursing, but not physical pain – emotional pain. Frank's heart leapt; he didn't want to think about what could have happened to his friends. They all looked at each other with the same panicked expression, which could've been funny had the situation not been dire, and ran in the direction of the shouting.

* * *

><p>The noise had somewhat subdued to a low gut wrenching sob then to nothing at all, when the six of them rounded the corner. The sight of Percy and Annabeth lying together on the floor was enough to make Frank's heart stop. Which one of them was hurt? Were they going to be okay? He felt the others stop beside him in shock a few feet away from the dreadful scene. He heard Piper scream "No!" as she tried to run towards them, but Jason grabbed her hand and pulled her back telling her that they needed to give them space, and trying to calm her down while he looked distraught himself.<p>

"Annabeth?" Leo called out falteringly, "Percy?" Percy stirred at his name and sat up. Frank's palpable relief at his friend being alive was short lived. Percy looked terrible (and that was not a usual occurrence): his green eyes were rimmed with red; his hair was all over the place; and his face was pink and puffy, wet with tears and blood. _Blood. _And that is when Frank looked at Annabeth properly. Percy's body had previously been blocking his view of Annabeth, but now he could see clearly how pale she was and the blood soaked bandage around her waist. She had not moved from the moment they had arrived. Frank felt a heaviness in his stomach that the others seemed to share as they realised the tragedy that had happened. Tears were streaming down Piper, Ella and Hazel's faces and Leo and Jason looked grim. Frank held Hazel close to him.

"We should get her a burial shroud," said Jason finally, breaking the silence, his voice cracking on the word "burial". It seemed to take a moment for his words to sink into Percy's head. Frank could see the blank expression on his face become replaced by something else. In seconds Percy had stood up and drawn his celestial bronze sword which he shook menacingly at the group, "NO!" he shouted, and they all backed away surprised at this, "You are _not_ taking her away from me!" Frank, being a son of Mars, recognised the blaze in his eyes and the fierce facial expression as pure anger: he wanted to fight them. This would be very bad indeed. "Percy, calm down," he tried reasoning with him, but Frank was never the best with words, "we would never want to take Annabeth away from you… but, well, she's dead." His voice broke at this and he felt his eyes welling up. "No, no, no!" Percy yelled scrunching his eyes tightly shut as if he could make this all go away. "Percy, he's right. You have to calm down." Piper's voice soothed and her words took immediate effect. Percy's body stiffened then relaxed and he fell to his knees with his sword hanging limply at his side.

Hazel rushed to Percy's side and held him comfortingly. They were like brother and sister Frank thought, remembering their quest a couple of months ago and the way they had acted together. Memories suddenly came swirling through his head as if he had no control of them and they stopped at a particular one.

Frank was in his grandmother's room at his house. She was sleeping and Mars was talking to him. "Gaia doesn't want you to be one of the seven. Percy Jackson… she believes she can control him… You've got a role to play… Every hero has a fatal flaw. Percy Jackson? He's too loyal to his friends. He can't give them up, not for anything… Someday soon he's going to face a sacrifice he can't make. Without you, Frank – without your sense of duty – he's going to fail."

_Can't give them up_

_Sacrifice he can't make_

_Your sense of duty_

_S_uddenly Frank realised what he had to do. This was all part of Gaia's plan – believing she could control Percy. She would take away his closest friend which happened to be his girlfriend too; he wouldn't want to give her up or leave her and Frank would have to help Percy remember the quest and what they had to do or he would be driven insane with grief and do something dangerous. For once Frank agreed with his father: it was _duty _to get the quest back on track and save his friend_._

Whilst he came out of his epiphany he heard Piper say to Jason – her voice muffled because she was sobbing into his chest – how beautiful true love was and how tragic it was that it always had to end this way. He noticed that Ella and Leo, who was tinkering with pieces of metal from his tool belt, stood to the side kind of awkwardly with sad looks on their faces. Hazel was still with Percy. He had a blank look on his face that exuded sadness like he would never smile again. Frank needed to stop this from happening.

"Percy," he started quietly, "before we fought the Laistrygonians at my grandmother's house, my father appeared and spoke to me. He told me that your fatal flaw is that you are too loyal to your friends – you will not give them up for anything. Gaia believes that she can use this against you, control you." Everyone was watching Frank now. He took a deep breath and carried on, "I know you are stronger than this, I know that Gaia will never control you and I know that Annabeth would have wanted you to come with us and carry on the quest." Percy looked at Annabeth as if remembering something she had said to him. "Percy. We need you on this quest. You will help us to save the world and every step of the way we will remember what Annabeth did for us and forever hold her in our hearts. She will go straight to Elysium and, one day, we will all see her again because we are_ all_ heroes in this and nothing can change that."

Frank stared into Percy's eyes willing him to understand what he was saying and noticed a change in his posture as if he felt a new resolve. He nodded slightly and reached over to his rucksack next to Annabeth. Hazel came up to Frank with shining eyes and hugged him tight. She stood on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear "that was amazing, Frank Zhang." He blushed slightly and held her hand, his heart racing.

Percy had brought out his blanket. Leo went over to Percy and gave him something. It was a beautiful rose made of silver and bronze metal, with intricate detailing on the petals and leaves, shining in the dawning light for Annabeth. Frank was amazed at how lifelike it was when Leo had only made it in a couple of minutes. It was a kind gesture and Percy looked at Leo with gratitude. Leo turned slightly red as he joined the others again, leaving Percy to say goodbye to Annabeth.

Percy bent towards Annabeth, folding her arms across her chest and putting the rose in her hands. He whispered _I'll see you one day soon, my love _before kissing her on the forehead and covering her with his makeshift shroud. Percy sat back and closed his eyes for a moment as if he was praying. A few seconds later, a breeze rushed through the winding streets making Frank shiver. It brought with it the smell of the ocean, even though they were far inland. Annabeth's body and the shroud that covered her disappeared with the wind.

Were it not for the blood on the ground and the tears on each of their faces, no one would ever have known what had happened.

***Crying* I really hope this doesn't happen in the real book, or I will die (but it makes for a good story, right?)**

**What did you guys think of my reasoning for this (Frank's memories of what Mars said)? I think this and the fact that Juno says Annabeth will cause trouble on the quest hints at something along these lines... just hopefully not resulting in her death (unless Riordan has an ulterior motive like I do mwahaha).**

**Anyway, next chapter: What do Poseidon and Athena think of all this? What did Percy pray for? Where did Annabeth go?**

**Find out next week (Lol sounds like some kind of TV show or something...) and in the meantime, please REVIEW so I know what you guys are thinking and because it makes me happy :)**

**Thanks guys :D**


	8. Poseidon and Athena

**A/N So I'm back guys with the next part of my story from Athena and Poseidon's POV as promised :)**

**I can't believe the amount of procrastinating I am doing! I missed a week of college, so I have a lot of work to catch up on but I just don't wanna :/ maybe later haha**

**Can't really think of much else to say... so enjoy this chapter!**

**POSEIDON AND ATHENA**

Poseidon was sat on his throne in his palace under the sea gazing at what looked like a very large bird bath filled with water. The water was shimmering with moving images – Poseidon was watching his son on his quest again. He was worried about Percy; he had a great sense of foreboding about this day in particular. As much as Poseidon wanted to talk to Percy or send him some kind of message to let him know that he was watching over him, he couldn't. Zeus had forbidden all contact with the demi-gods and those who were not on Olympus. It had taken Poseidon long enough to convince Zeus to let him return to his palace instead of confining him to Olympus and he knew that the god of the sky was keeping a close eye on him.

He observed Percy running and calling for the daughter of Athena. It seemed that she had gone missing. The dread set in Poseidon's chest as he realised what was going to happen and he shook his head sadly.

There was a flash of bright light behind him, swiftly followed by angry yelling, "Why in Hades have you summoned me here Poseidon? I was working on a very important–" Athena abruptly stopped when she saw his expression. She was not even fazed that she was underwater and still able to breathe and talk normally. "What's wrong?" she asked suddenly anxious, Poseidon never looked upset like this unless it was serious. She forgot her longstanding feud with him and hurried to his side. She watched alongside him as his son found her daughter lying in the streets of Rome. Her breath caught in her throat and a strangled sound escaped _no, not Annabeth _she thought in anguish. She had not known any details of the quest as Zeus had been keeping her busy and now she could see the harsh reality of it.

The goddess of wisdom rested her head on Poseidon's shoulder weakly. Being immortal, they had seen many of their own children die and lose loved ones but this was almost too much to take – these demigods were the children they cared most about and the ones supposed to save the world. Athena feared what would happen to them next.

Silent tears made their way down her face, glowing with a faint light, as Poseidon wrapped his arm around her shoulder. They watched as Annabeth died and they felt her spirit pass on. They watched as the friends of their children arrived and as Percy threatened them with Riptide. They watched as Percy broke down to be comforted by the daughter of Pluto. They watched as the son of Mars provided them all with the strength to go on. And they watched as the son of Poseidon covered the body of the daughter of Athena with a blanket and closed his eyes.

Athena was truly sobbing now making pained choking noises, and Poseidon could not say that he did not feel a tear make its way down his own weathered face and mix with the salt water of the sea. As Percy closed his eyes, Poseidon felt a tingling feeling in his body – Percy was thinking of him. A soft voice echoed sadly through the room and the words flowed into their ears. _Dad, please… please take her home. _Poseidon felt his heart clench as the echo of his son's voice cracked on the words he spoke. He looked over to Athena.

She had been watching Poseidon since Percy had closed his eyes, anticipating that he would be praying to his father. She saw the emotions in Poseidon's face and she had heard and witnessed the immense pain his son had been through; he had truly loved her daughter. She nodded her consent that Poseidon could carry out his son's request. He turned away from her and lifted his arms slightly. She felt a cool undercurrent in the water whoosh past her body and saw after a few moments that the children on the quest could feel the breeze too. And then Annabeth's body was taken home.

**Aww poor them :( and poor Percy, I hate putting him through this pain! I wanna go give him a big hug.**

**(sorry this chapter is kinda short, the next one is longer as far as I remember :P)**

**You guys figured out where Annabeth's body has gone? Leave me a review and tell me what you think! And you'll find out in the next chapter :)**

**Also, what did you think of Poseidon's seeing device? Pretty cool, huh? And ****the gods getting all emotional? It was interesting writing from their POV for a change.**

**Thanks for all the support, I love you all! Don't forget to**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**REVIEW**

**:D**


	9. Connor

**A/N Hey guys here is the next chapter on Sunday as promised :)**

**I have lotsa news: **

**1. Last week I went to see The Hoosiers live and they were awesome! And we got to meet the band afterwards and Irwin is sooo nice (if you haven't heard their songs, I recommend - Goodbye Mr. A, Bumpy Ride, Glorious and Worried About Ray)**

**2. The weather has been nice! Apparently it was hotter in England than California last week, but then again it is supposed to snow next week... I really hope not!**

**3. I watched the Hunger Games last week and it was really good, but they missed some bits out that annoyed me :/ **

**4. This is the last one :L I read The Odyssey and it was rather interesting. You guys should read it - you will get some of the inside jokes in the Percy Jackson series like the Lotus-eaters/Lotus Hotel and Casino. Also it has been said that the Sea of Monsters is basically the Odyssey which is fair enough because the plot line is similar, but obviously SoM is modernised, funnier and easier for young readers to follow...**

**Anyone wanna discuss any of the above? Just send me a review or a PM :)**

**Anyways...**

**Special thanks to _PercyplusAnnabeth_ for all the lovely reviews which made me smile :D**

**Phew that was a long A/N.. Sorry!**

**Now you'll find out where Annabeth's body has gone...**

* * *

><p><strong>CONNOR<strong>

"Come on!" Connor urged Travis, tugging his brother behind him, "It's the first campfire in ages and they'll have started by now. You can loot the shop later."

"But Connor, no one's around! This is a perfect moment to–" Travis was cut off by the glare his brother gave him. "Ok, fine! Maybe afterwards," he mumbled hopefully. It was unlike Connor to reject the idea of looting, but he had been looking forwards to the campfire since Chiron announced it at dinner two nights ago – it had been a long time since they had done anything fun at camp, what with preparing for the war – and he could already hear the singing coming from the arena.

They hurried along to the arena as the rest of the campers finished off a song. Just as they approached the entrance, something appeared a couple of metres in front of them. They stopped in their tracks, "what is that?" Connor asked. Travis drew his knife as they warily inched closer to the large object, squinting in the darkness and trying to make out what it was. Travis froze and grabbed his brother's arm, "is that a foot sticking out from there?" he whispered. Connor's heart jolted as he saw what Travis was gesturing at. He had a deep feeling of dread – which he could tell his brother shared – as he now realised what the object was: a body underneath a shroud.

"We need to get Chiron," Travis choked out replacing the knife. He didn't want to know which of his friends was hidden underneath. Connor skirted round the body and ran into the arena. The camp fire was blazing bright orange and soaring many feet in the air as campers laughed and joked, getting ready to start the next song. "Chiron!" Connor called across the arena beckoning over to him urgently. Chiron looked over and seemed to read the panicked expression on his face. He trotted towards him, the smile melting off his face and his tail flicking side to side anxiously. Connor tried to keep his voice low as he told Chiron what he and Travis had found, but the arena was cramped and quiet as the campers watched the exchange and it wasn't long before someone heard the news and it spread quickly. The fire burned low and blue-black as people began to realise that someone had died.

Connor led Chiron out of the arena to where the body lay and a group of the older demigods followed. Travis was standing awkwardly and anxiously to the side. "Connor, please pull back the shroud," Chiron asked in a tight voice; he had seen so many heroes die and he was dreading finding out which of his students this was. Connor looked around nervously taking in all the sad faces of his friends as he knelt down next to the body. He took hold of the corners of the blanket and pulled it back halfway his heart sprinting as if he had just taken part in an intense chariot race. There were gasps all around as they saw who it was: Annabeth. There was a bloodied bandage around her waist and a bronze flower in her hands. Her eyes were closed and her face looked peaceful as if she was sleeping, but her skin was pale and cold.

Chiron fell to his knees and let out a strangled cry. He had known Annabeth for ten years and she had been like a daughter to him. Tears rushed unashamedly down his face; no one had ever seen Chiron this way before. The other campers seemed to get over their shock and the floodgates opened – even Clarisse had tears snaking their way down her face. Malcolm had hastily called over the other children of Athena that were still sitting in the arena and they all held each other and cried for their dead sister. Connor was shaking and his heart had not slowed down. Annabeth had been a particularly great friend to him and Travis at camp, always teasing and making jokes while they acted like idiots with Percy… "Oh gods, Percy!" Connor exclaimed to no one in particular. He must be absolutely devastated, to lose his best friend and girlfriend whilst being on a quest trying to save the world. He prayed that Percy would be alright and not do anything drastic, but he knew that the metal rose indicated that their friends were supporting him all the way.

A couple of minutes passed and Clarisse was the first to speak. "We need to contact Grover and Thalia. They should know what's happened." People nodded morosely in agreement, but no one wanted to be the one to break the news. Chiron seemed to snap out of his mournful state and ordered everyone back to their cabins except Cabin 6. He waited until everyone had filed away, some leaning on others for support, before he addressed the children of Athena. "We need to arrange funeral plans," he told them. Their grey eyes shined with grief as Malcolm stepped forwards and said, "I know what Annabeth would want." Chiron nodded as Malcolm told him that their cabin would begin constructing a mausoleum of white marble the next day.

"That sounds wonderful, Malcolm, I'm sure Annabeth would be very pleased with it," Chiron spoke sadly, "now you'll have a busy day tomorrow, so you had better go and get some sleep." They all nodded and trudged miserably to their cabin, but none of them slept a wink that night – they could not stop thinking about poor Annabeth and the life that had been taken away from her too soon.

* * *

><p><strong>THALIA<strong>

Thalia sat down heavily on the edge of the rocky precipice as the Iris Message that had sent her the horrific news dissipated in the cool mountain breeze. _Annabeth is dead. Annabeth has gone. I will never see her smile again. _These thoughts circled round and round her head, never ceasing. After the initial shock wore off, the tears started rushing down her face like one of her father's thunder storms, staining her cheeks and dripping into her lap. She rubbed at her eyes roughly attempting to dry her wet face and tried to come to terms with what had happened.

Thalia had always thought that, of the three of them – Luke, Annabeth and herself – Annabeth would be the one to outlive them all, especially after Thalia had sacrificed herself on Half-Blood Hill. Annabeth was the smart one, the one who had always had a plan and she was a fighter too. Thalia remembered when she and Luke had first met Annabeth. She had been merely seven years old and yet so brave, wielding only a hammer to fend off any monsters. She had been grubby and tired, but the joy of joining Thalia and Luke had lit up her stormy eyes. It was mainly for Annabeth's sake that Thalia had stayed behind to fight the monsters, allowing her, Grover and Luke to get to the safety of camp. And, as she lay dying at the top of the hill, she prayed that Annabeth would be okay. Then when the unexpected happened and Thalia came back from her life as a tree, she saw, to her relief, that Annabeth had grown up and was safe. Thalia cherished all the memories they had had together over the years that she would never have dreamt could have been possible after that fateful night so many years before.

Now the realisation that she would never have any new memories with Annabeth struck her hard. She had known from the moment she had become a hunter that she would watch Annabeth grow older as she remained young and she would have to lose her eventually, but she had always thought they would have more time – more than ever after they had both survived the Titan War. She couldn't have been more naïve. A deep pain cut through her at all these thoughts and she collapsed into the foetal position on the hard ground, clutching her middle to hold herself together. Shuddering, she held back the heart wrenching sobs that threatened to explode from within her, until she couldn't bear it any longer. Her eyes squeezed shut and wept as she let all her pain out through her tears, until Artemis finally gave her the gift of a sweet dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Aww poor CHB and Thalia :( As you can now see, I wanted to do the reactions to Annabeth's death from all angles - Percy and co., godly parents and friends - but next chapter shall be from Annabeth's POV again (if you've forgotten the first time, please refer to chapter 6) which will get exciting :D<strong>

**Help me get to at least 50 reviews guys! There must be something in this chapter that moved you or that you thought was good... I really do appreciate them all :)**

**Next chapter in a couple weeks.. maybe if I get a lot of reviews I'll upload quicker ;)**

**Thanks again**


	10. Annabeth III

**A/N Hello again everyone :) I decided to update this a day earlier than I usually would so lucky you haha.**

**So in the last chapter it was all sad with CHB and Thalia and I guess some of you are thinking that Annabeth is gone for good... but I did tell you not to lose hope and in this chapter you shall see why. **(A lovely song that I should have put in one of the earlier chapters is _**Stay With Me - You Me at Six** _but it was the music video that really got me, so I recommend you go watch that)

**But first, I was thinking the other day how everyone thinks Rachel and Octavian will have a lot of friction, but what about Piper and Octavian? Imagine both of them trying to move a crowd: Octavian has his way with words and Piper has her charmspeaking powers... that would sure be interesting. Also there is definitely gonna be some serious issues with Frank, Leo and Hazel. Not only because of the whole Sammy thing, but because of Leo's fire powers and Frank's burnt stick. If Hazel wants to hang out with Leo, will she have to give Frank the wood back just to be safe? That would be the ultimate let down...**

**Anyways... thanks so much to _Dovewings of Narnia_ for all the lovely reviews to every chapter :D **

**And anyone else who reviewed, or liked the story *virtual hugs***

**It's been a while since I did a disclaimer so: I am not Rick Riordan, therefore I do not own the amazing stories or characters that he has created :3**

**Now on with the story! :)**

* * *

><p><strong>ANNABETH<strong>

Annabeth stepped lightly off the boat and landed on the soft black bank of the River Styx. She followed the procession of those around her towards where Cerberus stood guard of the lines of spirits. When Annabeth reached her queue he seemed to sense her there and started whimpering slightly. "I know, I know," she whispered quietly, wishing she had a ball to play with him. The line she was in was at a stand still so she had time to think. Her mind drifted a while and she remembered the Great Prophecy that she had recited and analysed over and over again, trying to understand its meaning:

_Seven half-bloods shall answer the call._

_To storm or fire, the world must fall._

_An oath to keep with a final breath,_

_And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death._

She remembered the quest they had been on to find the Doors of Death and, as the scattered thoughts in her mind came together, she knew what she had to do. She would find the doors of Death from the Underworld and come back to help the others. She had known deep down that she would have to do it when she entered the Underworld; it was the only way she could make sure Gaia didn't take over the world – not that she didn't trust that her friends at both camps could do it, but they needed all the help they could get, right? And, ok, she had to admit that she needed to see Percy again. They had been through too much together over the years and seeing him so upset like that had just about broken Annabeth's heart. She had to fix that.

Annabeth was relieved that it was her that had died and not Percy, for she would not have been able to bear it if he was taken away from her yet again – and this time he would have been gone for definite; as much as she loved Percy, she had always had better plans than him and it was the plan that she was currently thinking up that would get them back together again.

Upon coming out of her reverie, Annabeth peered around inconspicuously at the spirits standing near her and up at Cerberus – who was wagging his big tail and thumping annoyed spirits – before she turned on her heel and ran as quickly as she could away from the crowds. Cerberus started whining and then went into full scale barking, the echoes making the ground rumble – he was calling up the alarm. Almost immediately after he had begun, Annabeth heard sirens start to wail.

She pushed urgently through the masses of spirits gathered around and they made angry noises as parts of them dissolved momentarily when Annabeth touched them. She didn't quite know where she was going, but she just knew she had to get away fast and then she would figure out a plan on how to find the Doors of Death. She turned a few corners leaving the spirits behind and noticed a dark tunnel up ahead which she sprinted into, following the steep curves and dodging left and right around stalagmites that protruded from the ground. Annabeth could hear echoes of security ghouls chasing her and she thanked the gods that she was a quick runner. Hopefully they would take different turnings than those that she had taken and lose her in the tunnel.

Annabeth put on a burst of speed, but the floor of the tunnel, which sloped steeply downwards, was slick and damp and it wasn't long before she slipped and started falling. She bit down hard on her lip to stop herself screaming and giving her whereabouts away as she slid down the rocky passageway, reminding herself that she was already dead and she could not get hurt by the rocks surrounding her or what lay beneath. Despite this, she still winced and turned her head away closing her eyes as she saw she was heading straight towards a dead end: a solid obsidian black wall. She felt a rush of cold and, when she opened her eyes again, it was pitch black. Her skin cast a faint silvery glow and she waited for her eyes to adjust so she could see where she had ended up.

Annabeth had just figured out that she was standing in what seemed to be a small cavernous room hewn from the rocks which had no doors or exits, when a low groan came from somewhere behind her. She jumped and whirled around to see a figure lying in the corner, its hands and feet encased in black manacles attached firmly to the wall. She had thought that she had been alone in the room. She warily took a step towards the dark haired person (she sensed that it was not an enemy) and whispered, "Hello?" The figure lifted its head weakly in the direction of her voice and stared unseeingly at her for a moment before taking a sharp but wheezy intake of breath. "Annabeth," the voice slurred quietly and painfully. If her heart had still been beating, it would have stopped just then. She took a few more steps closer to the person who obviously knew who she was and examined their features more attentively. She realised that she recognised the messy jet black hair, the pale skin and the dark eyes. She froze in her place. She had found Nico di Angelo.

* * *

><p><strong>Phew, that was unexpected! Or was it? Did anyone see it coming? Tell me your thoughts on the chapter, I do reply to every review and appreciate them so much :)<strong>

**I drew a Mark of Athena book cover :D If you wanna see it, it's on my deviantArt (I would give a link but it won't let me :/) my account is thewindowstothesoul if you search me up. It's only the line art so far but I will be putting up a coloured version in a couple of days :)**

**I have some ideas about the prophecy that I would like to put out there so here goes:**

**The first and last line are pretty self explanatory.**

**_To storm or fire, the world must fall - _****Storm could be Percy or Jason and Fire could be Leo if it is anything to do with them (or their respective godly parents), but I'm not sure... world MUST fall does not sound so good either...**

**_An oath to keep with a final breath - _I had always thought that this would be Chiron, idk why - he seems to make a lot of oaths - then I was reading this mythology related book this week and I found out something really bad and foreboding: Chiron actually dies in the myths. He gets shot with a poison arrow and cannot be healed so instead of living with unending pain, he gives up his immortality and then is put in the stars (like Zoe Nightshade was) and is either the constellation Sagittarius or Centaurus. So I'm betting at the end of the series when the battle with Gaia is over, exactly that will happen to Chiron (seeing as Riordan likes to keep things accurate to the myths) :( **

**Also because that will presumably be the last demigod vs evil-powerful-things battle, Chiron will not really need to teach demigods how to fight and he did say he was only immortal as long as he was needed to teach...**

**But, of course, I really hope I'm wrong.**

**On that happy note, don't forget to review - there's plenty in here to review about ;) And have a great rest of weekend**

**~ Dana**


	11. Annabeth IV

**A/N Hello again, it's been a while. I'm so busy with school work and my first exam is in a week :S And I did my Duke of Edinburgh Silver practice last weekend (a hiking/camping trip for those who don't know) and it rained the whole time and I am exhausted :/**

**Anyways, if you have forgotten what happened in the last chapter, Annabeth ran away from the lines into the Underworld and happened to find Nico in a cave.**

**Disclaimer: I am still not Rick Riordan - I have not magically metamorphosed into him, so I do not own Percy Jackson, just the ideas for my story. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>ANNABETH<strong>

"Nico!" Annabeth stifled a gasp and ran the short distance from where she stood to the corner where he lay, "what happened to you?" she asked; she could now see that there were small cuts and bruises all over his face – some old and some fresh – and he was painfully thin. She gently helped him up into a sitting position and brushed his dirty, matted hair out of his eyes. He began to speak with difficulty: "Gaia's minions… caught me and imprisoned me… a while ago," he swallowed painfully and Annabeth wished that she had some nectar or at least some water to give to him, "They don't want me interfering with their 'grand plans' so I've been stuck here ever since," he whispered bitterly but tiredly. He looked back up at her with a dark sadness in his eyes, "but the real question here is what happened to _you_?"

Annabeth told him how she had lost a fight to a bunch of dracaenae whilst trying to protect their friends and Percy while they slept. At first Nico was angry that they had not gotten up to help her, but she quickly reassured him that it was her choice to go on her own and that she had known it was the only way. She also told him of her plans to find the Doors of Death and to get back to the world above so she could help her friends fight against Gaia. He told her that this was dangerous but, seeing as he had been looking for the Doors of Death himself before he had been captured, he agreed that he would go with her. At this, Annabeth smiled – if anyone could help her get back from the Underworld, it would be a child of Hades.

"Is Hazel alright?" Nico asked after a short pause. Annabeth could see the longing in his eyes that showed clearly how much he missed her. "Yes, she's fine. Frank is doing a good job of looking after her and making sure she doesn't get too sad, but she misses you everyday." Nico lowered his head sadly. "Don't worry, Nico, we'll get out of here soon and then see everyone again." She said with determination – she was trying to convince herself as well as him.

After they had finished talking and Annabeth had brought Nico up to date with the quest and all that she knew from both camps, Annabeth looked around the dark cave and at Nico's bound hands and feet. "Now, how are we going to get out of here?" she mused. Nico lifted his tired head and jerked it towards something behind her in the furthest corner from where he sat. "They left my sword in here, as if to taunt me that it's so close and yet I can't reach it. Well, the joke's on them now isn't it." He tried for a smile, but it came out as a grimace from the pain of moving his facial muscles. Annabeth went over to the sword and bent to pick it up from the ground. She briefly wondered if her hand would just go straight through it, but then she felt the solid black hilt as she gripped it in her hand. She turned back to Nico and he seemed to read her expression of triumph. "If that sword was made of anything but Stygian iron, you wouldn't have been able to hold it; it is a creation of the Underworld."

She reached his corner and he pulled his arm away from the wall, causing the chain to become taut. Annabeth swung the sword above her head and brought it down forcefully through the metal chains. They snapped and broke away as smoothly as if she was slicing through water. She moved on to his other arm then his feet. When Nico was free, it took him a while but he shakily stood up gripping the rough wall tightly for support and stretched his tired limbs.

"Now what?" asked Annabeth. For all her knowledge and strategies, she did not know how to escape from a cavern in the Underworld. She supposed she could just walk out through the wall, but Nico would not be able to follow. She mulled it over, frustrated that she didn't know what to do, but she didn't have to worry because it seemed that Nico had a plan.

He instructed Annabeth to stick her head through the wall to see what was beyond it and if the coast was clear. She complied and saw a long dark tunnel that had many junctions coming off it. No one was about. She shuddered slightly as memories of the Labyrinth flooded her mind, but quickly returned to the cavern and relayed the information back to Nico. He nodded grimly.

"Right, now comes the hard part. I'm going to have to shadow travel out of here, but in my weakened state, I don't know if I'll pass out on the other side," he sounded tired and anxious. Previously there had been no shadows in the room for there had been no source of light, but now the glow of Annabeth's spirit was enough to form dancing shadows on the walls. Nico closed his eyes in concentration and, bracing himself, stepped into a patch of shadow. He disappeared immediately. Annabeth rushed to the opposite side of the room and appeared on the other side of the wall. She had to admit it was pretty cool being able to do that.

Nico was lying on the floor with his eyes closed. She bent down and touched his shoulder, trying to wake him but for now he was out cold. Annabeth began to panic slightly but told herself to calm down. He would wake up soon enough and there was no one around anyway. She settled down next to him, careful not to lean against the wall, lest she fall back through it.

After waiting for what felt like aeons, Nico moved his head up slightly and slowly sat up next to Annabeth. "How long was I out?" he croaked.

"I don't know. Maybe ten minutes, but it felt like ages." He looked at her sheepishly then stood up leaning heavily against the wall. Annabeth also rose and appraised him critically, he looked like he would pass out again from the exertion but he simply stood and took a few deep shuddering breaths before saying, "well, we'd better get moving then." Annabeth gave him a look.

"I'm fine really!" he protested, "I'll find some food and water soon and I'll be better than ever." Annabeth sighed then nodded in agreement – it would not do to stay here much longer – so she held her arm around Nico's shoulder to keep him steady. They took a few laboured steps forwards before getting into a steady rhythm and starting down the winding tunnel on their search for the Doors of Death and their entrance back to the world.

* * *

><p><strong>Yay, everything is going well for them now!<strong>

**I was actually going to end this story here - it _is _a Mark of Athena fanfic, and if this was what happened in the real story, it would end on a cliffhanger like this, knowing Riordan :P - but I am considering carrying on with it where Annabeth and Nico would find the Doors of Death and escape and there would be a super awesome Percabeth reunion... But you guys have to tell me if you want this to happen or I won't bother with it.**

**As I said before, my exams are coming up very quickly, so if I do carry on with this story it will be in late June/July when I am done with them, but it would definitely be worth the wait for you guys and other people on fanfic sometimes don't update for months and I _am_ warning you in advance anyway :L**

**What you should do now:  
><strong>

**- Review this chapter and tell me what you think and if I should carry on with the story in summer.**

**- Subscribe/Favourite the story so you can see it if/when it is updated.**

**- Check out my Mark of Athena book cover and my Happy the Dragon T shirt on deviantArt! Username: thewindowstothesoul**

**- If you like my ideas/style of writing/portrayal of the characters, Subscribe to Author? Because I have plenty of great ideas that I will be writing in summer and you won't want to miss them!**

**I will reply to all reviews as I have been doing already, even though it may take a while.**

**Thanks for everything guys and wish me luck in my exams! x**


End file.
